Over the years, the Spa course has been modified several times. The track was originally 15 kilometres (9 mi) long, but after World War II, the track had some changes. The uphill U-turn right after the famous Eau Rouge corner called "Virage de Ancienne Douane" was eliminated and cut short, thus giving birth to the Radillon uphill sweeping corner. The sudden right-hander at Malmedy was eliminated and bypassed, and was made part of the Masta Straight. The slight right-hander that was originally Holowell (the corner before Stavelot after the second Masta Straight) was eliminated. And finally, instead of going through a slight left-hander that went into the town of Stavelot and a sharp right-hander at a road junction in Stavelot, a shortcut was built that became a very fast, very wide right-handed turn that bypassed Stavelot. All these changes made the final configuration of the old Spa circuit 14 km (9 mi) long. All these changes made Spa the fastest open road circuit in the world, and in the final years of the old circuit, drivers could average 150 mph (241 km/h) on the circuit. The biggest change, however, saw the circuit being shortened from 14 km (9 mi) to 7 km (4 mi) in 1979. The start/finish line, which was originally on the downhill straight before Eau Rouge, was moved to the straight before the La Source hairpin in 1981. Like its predecessor the new layout still is a fast and hilly route through the Ardennes where speeds in excess of 330 km/h (205 mph) can be reached. Since inception, the place has been famous for its unpredictable weather. Frequently drivers are confronted with one part of the course being clear and bright while another stretch is rainy and slippery.The circuit probably demonstrates the importance of driver skill more than any other in the world. This is largely due to the Eau Rouge and Blanchimont corners, both which need to be taken flat out to achieve a fast run onto the straights after them, which aids a driver in both a fast lap and in overtaking. (Wikipedia)

'We have nothing to lose' - AlonsoFernando Alonso has called on Ferrari to take more risks before the end of the season as he believes his team "have nothing to lose now"

Easier for Alonso to hunt Vettel - ButtonJenson Button believes Fernando Alonso could be the best placed driver to haul in Sebastian Vettel in the championship as his Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa is out of the fight

Warwick elected BRDC presidentDerek Warwick has been elected as the new president of the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC), replacing the outgoing Damon Hill.

No driver will dominate rest of the season - WebberMark Webber does not think any single driver will be able to emulate Sebastian Vettel's start to the season in the remaining eight races, but he insists that does not mean the championship is over

Schumacher has 'not many regrets'

Sutil eyes Renault scalpAdrian Sutil says Force India is aiming to overhaul Renault for fifth place in the constructor's championship.

'Not our favourite circuit' - VettelSebastian Vettel says that Spa-Francorchamps is not Red Bull's "favourite circuit", but that he still thinks the RB7 will be strong.

Senna in for next two racesBruno Senna will hold onto his race seat at Renault for the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix, with a view to racing for the team until the end of the season.

Di Resta ready for Eau Rouge challengePaul di Resta says he is ready for the challenge of Eau Rouge having never driven at Spa-Francorchamps in a Formula One car.

Liuzzi looks to HRT futureTonio Liuzzi says he wants to stay with HRT because he believes it can make "a huge step forward in terms of lap time" in 2012.

Massa looking for first victoryFelipe Massa says his target for the rest of the season is to attempt to secure his first victory of the year.

Toro Rosso truck in crashA Toro Rosso transporter was involved in an accident with another lorry en route to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit for the Belgian Grand Prix.

Red Bull maintained their unbeaten run in qualifying, Vettel setting his ninth pole position of the year.

That was the 24th pole position of his career, putting him eighth on the all-time list, with as many as Niki Lauda and Nelson Piquet.

One race day he claimed his seventh win of 2011 and the 17th of his career. It was also his 30th podium finish.

Mark Webber set fastest lap for the 11th time.

Virgin equalled the record for most starts by a team without scoring a point.

Jenson Button failed to reach Q3 for the first time this year. That leaves Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and the two Ferrari drivers as the only drivers to have reached Q3 in all 12 races.

Jaime Alguersuari and Bruno Senna enjoyed their best qualifying performances to date with sixth and seventh respectively.

Venezuela has its second points-scorer in F1 in the shape of Pastor Maldonado, who finished tenth and claimed a point. The only previous Venezuelan driver to score in F1 was Johnny Cecotto, who finished sixth at Long Beach for Theodore in 1983.

Nico Rosberg has now led six different races for a total of 60 laps without having won one. Only four drivers have led more laps in world championship races without winning one.

I read almost anything related to F1 so why not share with everyone. This topic was up and running in less than 5 minutes. It might seem a lot of work but it's just copy paste with bolding and coloring texts. I love to read previews and watch pre-shows so this is why I'm going to take charge of race topics (1st was Hungary). Have fun guys, I will miss the entire race weekend...but will be watching the 7 hrs marathon (qualifying and race) on Sunday night and then go straight to work.

J i m Wrote:-------------------------------------------------------> In fairness to Bruno, Paul di Resta has a similar> accident, and Paul is generally very impressive> indeed.>> I don't think we can point to that relatively> minor mistake and call it an epic failure just> yet.

You may be right, but talking only about LRGP's drivers I think you'll agree with me that Heidfeld wouldn't have made that mistake. Paul di Resta is a rookie as well as Bruno Senna, but bear in mind that this is Paul's first time in Spa in years, unlike Bruno, who raced it last year with HRT. It's obvious that he must have some basic knowledge of the track, regardless of how disastrous his last car was. Furthermore, Lotus had a chance to keep a skilled veteran, and instead they choose two inexperienced drivers. Lots of luck, but I insist: That was not good.

Massa was famous for making constant mistakes at Sauber in his early years (and arguably since, depending on what sort of a season he's having), yet he came within one corner of winning a world championship. Your formative years are seldom conclusive of where you'll end up.

He'll make mistakes. It would be rather hard on the guy to expect him not to, having not driven the car in anger and not driven it at all for half a year, while it would have changed considerably.

chet Wrote:-------------------------------------------------------> Better crash now than tomorrow.>> IMO he will be on trial for 2-3 races. If he does> OK then he will sit in for the reason. If not,> there is no loss in giving Grosjean a try.

You get a from me. I didn't want Nick out, but if he had to be dumped I would've put Grosjean in. He's fresh from GP2, and he's had some success, so he may have a good motivation.